The present invention is generally directed to a rotary combustion engine having rotary compression and expansion units. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a rotary internal combustion engine whose compression and expansion units define separate toroidal chambers for the volume compression and expansion operations requisite to internal combustion drive of a mechanical member. The rotary combustion engine provides for the coordinated symbiotic interaction of its internal combustion and expansion units to recursively drive, for example, a crank shaft eccentrically coupled thereto.
Rotary combustion engines have been long known and used in the art in automobile and other power generating applications. One example is the so-called Wankel engine in which a rotor contained internally within an oblong chamber of an engine housing, which undergoes eccentric rotation within the chamber to sequentially trap, compress, then combust pockets of air therein. The rotor is carried on an eccentric crank shaft, and defines three apex points which slidably bear against the surrounding inner walls of the chamber. As it goes through one phase of eccentric rotation with the crank shaft, the rotor—between two of its apex points—traps a volume of intake air against the inner wall of the chamber. As the rotor advances in its eccentric rotation, the trapped air is compressed in volume. During a subsequent phase of the rotor's eccentric rotation, the compressed air is ignited for combustion to explosively expand the trapped volume and thereby drive the rotor's further rotation. The post-combustion gas is thereafter exhausted out of the chamber, and upon continued eccentric rotation of the rotor, further cycles of trapping, compressing, and igniting of a fresh batch of intake air occur.
This well-known rotary engine design suffers from a number of drawbacks. Not the least of these is the dominant central role served by the rotor, which not only conveys and drives crank shaft rotation to the internal compression and expansion processes occurring with the given chamber, but also serves to directly seal off and contain both the compression and expansion volumes within the same chamber. The rotor itself is exposed directly to the explosive combustion, while also serving to maintain the all too critical seals needed for the chamber portions to support the compression, combustion, and expansion operations without compromise. Not surprisingly, rotary engines of this type are known to suffer from lack of durability and unduly limited operational life spans.
There is therefore a need for a rotary internal combustion engine which provides for simple yet efficient and durable operation to recursively drive a mechanical member such as a crank shaft. There is a need for such rotary combustion engine which provides reliable operation over an extended service life.